Casey Anthony made a public appearance Monday (March 4) to attend a hearing in court. This was her first appearance since she was acquitted of the murder of her daughter Caylee in 2011.
Ten U.S. Homeland Security officers guarded the courthouse steps, fully armed, as Anthony is a target, having received many death threats. Anthony, now 26, filed for bankruptcy in January and said that she is unemployed, lives with friends and gets by on gift cards and cash. Her filing claims she has $792,000 in liabilities and $1,000 in assets.
As reported by the Associated Press, Anthony's debts amount to $500,000 in legal fees, including criminal defense attorney Jose Baez. The amount due to the Orange County Sheriff's office totals $145,660 for investigative fees and costs. Anthony owes the Internal Revenue Service $68,540 in interest and penalties and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement $61,505 in court costs.
A legal representative for Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, R. Scott Shuker, was the sole creditor that arrived in court for the hearing. Fernandez-Gonzalez is claiming that Anthony ruined her reputation by giving her name to the police. Anthony told Orlando authorities that her daughter Caylee was stolen by Fernandez-Gonzalez. Shuker said that the linkage to the case is causing his client significant hardship.
Anthony was acquitted of murder in 2011, but was convicted and sentenced to serve four years in jail for lying to investigators. She ended up serving only a few days of her sentence for good behavior and a credit for spending nearly three years in jail beginning in 2008.
(Edited by Lois Heyman)
